abolitionism

Abolitionism was a historical social and political movement aimed at ending slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. It emerged in the late 18th century and spread across Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean. Proponents argued that slavery violated universal rights and Christian ethics, and they pursued emancipation through moral persuasion, legal reform, and organized activism.

In Britain, abolitionism mobilized public opinion through pamphlets, societies, and parliamentary lobbying. The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (established 1787) helped secure the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in 1807, and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 ended slavery in most British colonies, although a period of apprenticeship delayed full emancipation in some places.

In the United States, abolitionists argued that slavery contradicted the nation's founding ideals and demanded immediate emancipation. Notable figures included William Lloyd Garrison, editor of The Liberator; Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and orator; and Sojourner Truth. Organizations such as the American Anti-Slavery Society advocated for abolition through publications, lectures, petitions, and political action. Debates over immediatism versus gradualism intensified in the 1840s and 1850s, contributing to the Civil War and the eventual abolition of slavery with the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. Some abolitionists supported more radical action, while others pursued nonviolent reform.

Abolitionism also had an international footprint, influencing movements in the Caribbean, Africa, and South America and contributing to the abolition of slavery in several empires and nations. Its legacy extends to later civil rights and human-rights activism.